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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

As if we need one... another reason to HATE WINTER

Early yesterday morning around 3:00 AM I was awakened by Louie's cries on the monitor. Out of habit I hopped up and out of our warm bed, all discombobulated and still half asleep, prepared to do the dreaded walk up the flight of stairs to the nursery.

Holy hell it was cold. Shockingly cold. There was that kind of icy chill in the air that makes you catch your breath and causes your leg hair to stand on end. Sure, I was wearing a tank top and shorts, which seems ridiculous and highly inappropriate for the the middle of January, but ever since giving birth to my second child I seem to be prone to bizarre night sweats. So I always keep a sweater hanging on the closet door handle that I can throw on if (oh who am I kidding, when) one of the boys needs me in the middle of the night. But this chill was different, I knew instantly that it was more than a consequence of my inappropriate winter sleeping attire. My bare feet on the freezing cold hard wood told the whole story. As did the thermometer.

(Yes, Gus and I saw the Lego movie this weekend and it was as hilarious and sweet and ridiculous as everyone is saying. I may have liked it more than he did. Though remind me sometime to tell you about the time when Gus pulled down his pants at the doctor's office while I was talking to his pediatrician and started bopping around saying, "Where are my pants? Where are my pants?" OMG. That happened yesterday. There, I just told you. Yes, it's totally from the movie, which I made sure to tell the wide-eyed pediatrician, and yes I had to remind my kid in front of the doctor that we don't undress and dance around pants-less in public places.)

So yeah. Our house. It was really cold.

We live in an old house, we bought it 10 years ago and for almost as long as we've lived here we've had an issue with our furnace once or twice each winter. It's never convenient when your furnace stops running, especially with little children in the house, but it's even worse when it happens overnight. Overnight breakdowns seem to be our furnace's jam. Tell me what that is about? Who did we piss off to acquire this terrible furnace-related karma?

So until about 4:30 AM Dan messed around with things, tried to clean different little part doo-dads and tested tiny little flame sensors (impressed with my tech speak aren't you?) while I stood around in my terrycloth robe and wool socks (still did not put on pants though, this no pants thing is becoming a theme of this post) and sat there watching him until he told me there was absolutely no reason for both of us to be sitting up getting no sleep. Especially when one of us was just standing there doing nothing, complaining about how cold it was and obsessing over whether or not she smelled gas and whether or not the kids were going to wake up and if we should really wait until the morning to call a professional.

I put him out of his misery and went back to bed, and he joined me about a half hour later resolving to call at 7:00 AM. When Louie woke up at 6:00 I was able to get him to go back to sleep for another hour by snuggling with him under a blanket in the rocking chair. I woke up to frozen feet and a little boy who didn't seem to understand that he was supposed to be as miserable as I was about our chilly fate.

Dan went into work late, after securing a time on the schedule of the heating professionals, and the boys and I spent the day driving all over the city. First to my brother and sister-in-law's home to drop off Louie for an hour, then to Gus's over-due 4-year well visit at the pediatrician, a quick stop at a drive-thru for coffee and a little something to replace the breakfast that we didn't really eat because we were all too cold, then back to my sister-in-law's again to pick up Louie, my friend Suzi's house for an impromptu play date and lunch (she is the greatest). I attempted for about 30 minutes to get Louie down for a nap at Suzi's after lunch before giving up and heading towards home, and ended up arguing with Dan over our furnace's diagnosis for most of the thirty minute drive, trying to make a mutual decision as to whether or not we should repair ($1K and could happen immediately) or replace ($3K after rebates and wouldn't be done until tomorrow).

Sanity-saving play-date

We decided to replace tomorrow, which meant we needed to find somewhere to stay for the night. Louie had an appointment with our chiropractor at 4:15, so Dan brought him there, I packed some overnight bags and Gus and I drove over to my brother's house where my lifesaver sister-in-law was slaving away in the kitchen while my nephew napped, cooking us an incredible dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

And then I laid myself down on their couch and got under a blanket and wondered if I'd ever be able to get up again. You can't really understand what it feels like, how exhausting it is, to not be able to just go home after a long day. Not until you can't.

What a crazy day. We had a lovely little sleepover at my brother's house and the boys went to bed before 7:00 and slept surprisingly well, but they sure were confused this morning about going to daycare and preschool. Gus in particular, our little homebody, wailed as we were getting our boots and coats on, "But I want to go home! Why can't we just go home? Is the furnace fixed? I hate Debbie's house! Why can't we go home?"

Crazy way to start our week, hoping it can only get better from here, but so dang thankful to have incredibly generous family and friends around to take care of us in our time of need.

They're fixing the furnace today while we're all at work/daycare, and I just can't wait to go home tonight. I imagine my boys all feel the same.

Horrible, horrible timing. I'm glad you had somewhere warm and safe to stay while your furnace was fixed. Something similar happened to us on NYE at our cabin. We arrived there and realized we'd run out of propane .. our pipes were nearly frozen and it was 40 degrees inside. So scary, especially when little kids are involved!

Ugg, furnace problems suck! Ours goes out about once a year too... but we just clean off the sensor doo dad and it is better to pumping heat. We put in a new furnace shortly after we bought the house 10 years ago and I dont regret it at all. You will be so happy you spent the extra money and hopefully your nights of waking up freezing will happen far less. Hope the install went good and you were able to sleep in the comfort of your own homes last night!

I'm not fond of winter either. I'm more of a summer girl. Hahaha! Anyway, I'm glad that the sleepover proved to be fun for Gus and Louie, especially after Gus' little episode that morning. Hopefully, the furnace has been fixed by now, so everyone can say hello to comfy nights on their own beds. All the best! :)

This whole experience seems awful. I have never had a furnace up and quit on me, let alone doing it when it is winter and cold out. I seems like your home was ready for an new furnace though. Hopefully the addition will put an end to all those cold nights and mornings you were talking about in your post. Here's hoping!

When you said holy hell, it was cold, I immediately flashed back to childhood in the cold state of Ohio. I really enjoyed your photo on the couch. Your boys are all bundled up in winter gear, plus a few blankies. But it was a smart move to let it go for a day and be warm with family.

About

Mid 30's. Minneapolis. Former boy-mom. Gus (6), Louie (3) & Olive (baybeeee!). Used to be obsessed with natural birth and breastfeeding and other hippy-ish new-mom stuff. Still into all that, but not as obsessive and annoying. Have come out on the other side and realize there are many ways to parent and mine is just one.